1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to support devices for maintaining a person's body in an upright position and, more particularly, to such a support adapted to be secured to the side walls of the bathtub.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is often difficult for physically handicapped persons or very young children to maintain an erect sitting position. Bathing in a water-filled tub, therefore, presents a great risk of danger to these individuals in that they can slip below the water level in the tub and are likely to drown if not closely attended by others. This is especially true of persons who are subject to unexpected spells of unconsciousness who may suddenly collapse without warning. Consequently, it would be advantageous to provide a body support for the safety of these individuals which would maintain their body in an upright position while sitting in a tub without a continuous conscious effort.
One previously known form of safety device for bathtubs comprises a safety rail surrounding the tub in order to provide a bather with an easily grasped support in order to provide leverage for entering or exiting the tub. Typically these rails are disposed above the water level of the tub and thus do not act to support a body which is submersed in the water-filled tub. Moreover, these rails do not operate to maintain a person's body in an upright position but merely provide a handle for leverage when entering or exiting the tub. It is necessary for the bather to make a conscious effort to grasp and lean against the rails. Although these rails can be provided with a seat 88 as shown in the U.S. patent to Tilson et al, U.S. Pat. No. 2,815,513, the seat only supports the body above the level of water in the tub. In addition the seat does not prevent the body from falling into the tub unless a conscious effort is maintained to remain on the seat.
Another form of support for a bather in a water-filled tub comprises a backrest which extends outwardly from the wall adjacent the rear of the tub and which is inclined rearwardly towards its top. Although the inclination of the backrest tends to avoid collapse of the body in the forward position, the backrest does not include body restraints which prevent the body from sliding down along the backrest or restrain the body from falling forward when a conscious effort is made to reach an object in the forward portion of the tub.
Another form of bathtub safety device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,990,120 comprises a body enclosing ring detachably and adjustably secured to a support rail mounted to a tub enclosing wall. The ring is made of two semicircular ring portions, each portion having radially extending arm portions 16 and 17 respectively. The arms are pivotally secured to the rail and include a locking screw for locking the ring in position with respect to the rail. Although each ring portion can be pivoted upwardly so that a body can enter within an extended ring portion before pivoting the upwardly pivoted ring downwardly so that the body is entrained between the two ring portions, the ring is not vertically adjustable so that persons of different size can use the ring while seated in the tub. In addition, the lateral placement of the rings is limited to the length of the rail. More particularly, the device is not well adapted for use by bathers who wish to be seated in the tub since the pivoting action of the rails requires that the diameter of the rings be large enough to be pivoted past the bather's shoulders which are substantially wider than the bather's chest. Consequently, the rings would only loosely enclose the body of the bather and would not prevent the bather from slipping below the rings. In addition, the ring does not abuttingly engage substantially the entire periphery of the body for maximum support.